Tanker Love Friday
The Army has approved full-rate production of the variable-fused 120mm Advanced Multi-Purpose round. Till now, production and distribution has been limited.
It equips M1 Abrams crews with the ability to effectively neutralize Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) teams and breach formidable Double Reinforced Concrete Walls (DRCW) while consolidating the capabilities of four legacy rounds into one.
One of the standout features of this munition is its multi-mode programmable fuze, allowing operators to choose from three different modes: point detonate, point detonate delay and airburst. Intelligent Engineering
So with a (hopefully) quick adjustment, the tank crew can make the round explode where and how they want – on or in front of hostile personnel, on the surface of a target, or inside a target – sweeett.. I’m not a tanker (hell, people SHOOT at those things!) but I suspect this will bring smiles to their faces – and hopefully let them live a little longer.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Army
I don’t know what it is…but if it looks like that picture…I want one.
There was a similar round back in the “old days” of the M48 and M60 tanks. While the round didn’t have anti armor capability it was a fused (timed detonation) round called beehive. Very much anti personnel.
I like the idea of a “smart” round but at the same time it’s going to put a lot of tasking on the TC (tank commander) and the loader to 1 determine if the round is needed to be set and 2 to set it while in the midst of combat. If you know how the rounds are stored you know that they are set in the ready rack with the base facing the loader. He will have to pull the round and put it down, use the fuse setting tool, then pick it up and load it while not losing the tool and the tank is likely to be maneuvering radically to throw off anti tank guided missile crew aim. That is a thing called a sagger drill back in the day. Unless they can “program the round” in the chamber electronically (another weakness dependent upon electrical equipment) it has to be done manually.
Unfortunately I lack detailed info on how it would work and if I did I’d not be sharing it openly anyhow.
Was thinking the same thing meownself Ot. A whole lot going on when one is in a sho’ nuff “shootin’ n scooting” mode. I’m all for anything that can give our troops an “edge”, but is this just another whizz bang gizmo that will cause more problems than give solutions? I also agree that we should not be sharing openly what tools we are providing to our warriors.
“Beehive” rounds…or what used to be called “double canister”. Be still my beating heart.
It has a data link on the turret wall which fuses it automatically. That decision still has to be made and applied to the data link. The data link applies the fuse setting to the round as it passes by.
Tanks for the great post David.
I am not a tanker either but couldn’t they preset a few and color code them in the rack for emergency use? Don’t they have to travel or turn a certain distance to activate?
Loaders load the ready rack in accordance with some guidance from the TC. They put the rounds of the type most likely rounds in the “sweet spot” for quickest access and less likely rounds on the outer edges. The base stub (aft cap) has the round’s nomenclature and is readily apparent. After a couple of engagements, during a tactical pause, they will reset the ready rack again as they prefer it. I have known some spray paint to be applied to aft caps so that is what shows when the ready rack opens. The goodness of this round is it simplifies the load plan for the ready and semi-ready racks greatly while improving lethality.
Unit basic load SOP would be determined from Battalion Hq based on mission requirements and intelligence about OPFOR and ammo available in the Division class V stock.
Used to be the Bn Ammo NCO once upon a time.